Lewis Hamilton deemed the tyres and execution in Formula 1 Qualifying at the Azerbaijan GP ‘a pain in the arse’ after finishing P6.
The seven-time World Champion might have grabbed a victory in Baku in 2018; however, the circuit keeps challenging him. The narrow track has already seen several close calls with the walls and plenty of yellow flags this weekend.
Hamilton finished all three Free Practice sessions in the top five but settled for P6 in a difficult qualifying session. Starting sixth still gives the Ferrari driver a good chance to climb into podium contention on Saturday, especially given that Baku can be immensely unpredictable.
‘It was such a pain in the arse’
Hamilton found himself 1.3 seconds astray polesitter George Russell at the end of Q3. With its long straights, the circuit is not the best suited to the SF26.
“I mean, it’s always the question. Every weekend, it’s always the question. Whether or not you’re able to do a good job or not. And that’s just different circumstances. You manage them the best, and sometimes it works for you, sometimes it doesn’t.” Hamilton said, speaking to media about the execution in the qualifying session.
While a tow can be a useful tool around Baku, the Mercedes’ dominant pace left the competition in the dust. Even though Hamilton got a tow earlier, Q3 offered him none. While he tried to fight on his new tyres to ‘save my life’, he was unable to do much more.
“I had one in P3, and it was six tenths. It’s literally just not having people up ahead. As I said, I was weaving to try and save my life, and I still couldn’t get these stupid tyres working.
“It’s such a pain in the arse. We’ve got to bring back some good tyres.” He added.
Hamilton appeared to believe that both the team execution and the tyres left him further back than expected in qualifying. Despite the Briton giving Ferrari teammate Charles Leclerc a tow in Q3, the Scuderia was still a whopping eight tenths behind the Mercedes of Russell on pole.
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